Novak Djokovic leads a strong field at the Western and Southern Open, usually in Cincinnati but played without fans in New York City this year.
I mean, Cincy really is pretty damn good, all things considered. There is no Roger Federer. No Rafael Nadal. There IS a coronavirus case count in the United States of 5.7 million cases as of the day of this publication. There is a top seed who insists on saying ridiculous things in public. Over and over and over again.
And yet, there is still a draw that features a top half of Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, a tantalizing semifinal for any tournament, much less one COVID-compromised. There is Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the ever-controversial Sascha Zverev duking it out in the bottom half.
It has been a LONG six months. At this point, I would watch just about any “real” tournament. That the one we got is as good as the Western & Southern is…well…it’s a gift.
The players are going to be rusty, no doubt about that. There is still some risk of illness. I’ll think about that each day I watch. There won’t be fans to boo/cheer/boo/cheer Medvedev. There won’t be anyone to heckle Zverev when he throws in his eighth double-fault of the second set. But it’s still pretty damn good. You know?
Viva la tennis. And stay safe.
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Viva la tennis